There are 70 days left to save The Harrison. Please help by donating to their Crowdfunder

A message from The Harrison´s founder and owner, Paul Michelmore:

“20 years ago I set up The Harrison Pub and Grassroots Music Venue in Kings Cross. Thanks to our wonderfully dedicated staff, we have built The Harrison from the worst pub in Kings Cross (really!!) into a cherished, award-winning and officially recognised Asset of Community Value. Sadly, this is now all under threat.

Like all pubs and venues, the Pandemic hit The Harrison hard. The Government closed us in the Lockdowns, placed crippling trading restrictions during Social Distancing and paid our customers to stay out of Central London during Furlough.

We were also excluded from the lucrative Cultural Recovery Fund, which saved many UK venues, just because I am registered as a Sole Trader rather than a Limited Company. (I know!!)

Despite the overwhelming challenges we have faced, bizarrely the UK courts have ruled that we still have to pay our Landlords the full rent for the entire Covid period, a total of £99,000.

This is despite Boris Johnson promising the burden of Covid Rent Debt would be split fairly between the Landlords and Tenants, according to means. Our Landlords are the third richest family in the country, with a fortune of £25 billion.

As you can imagine, the whole process has been pretty hard to swallow.
After four years of battling (all the way to the High Court) we now know how this will end...
We must either pay the full £99k of Covid Rent by September 2024, or the Harrison will close.
Thanks to a massive groundswell of support from our customers and the media, The Harrison has been trading well and we have already paid off £45k of the debt. I know where another £20k will come from, but that still leave us £20k to £24k short.

I have put off Crowdfunding for as long as possible, but now we have exhausted all other options and I’m afraid we must call on the goodwill of you, the community, to get us over the line. We need help.
We have 70 days to raise £20,000.
Only if you can afford it, please consider donating.”

www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/save-the-harrison

Paul and The Harrison were responsible for founding Folk & Honey, and have been fundamental in supporting us. If The Harrison is lost then Folk & Honey will be lost too. Please give what you can.

You can also support The Harrison by coming along to one of The Harrison All Day Folk Festival events at Jamboree!